This invention relates to inflatable vehicle tires of the tubeless variety, and more particularly to improved beadlocks for preventing the opposed beads of a tire from becoming dislodged when operating in a flat or partially deflated condition. Even more particularly, this invention relates to a beadlock of the generally C-shaped variety, and removable clip means for preventing the ends of the beadlock from separating during use.
One of the major problems heretofore encountered when a tubeless tire fails, or becomes flat during use, is the tendency of the tire to shred and disintegrate if the vehicle is not immediately stopped. Efforts to overcome this problem have included the use of special, rim-mounted safety liners, such as shown for example in U.S. Pat. No. 4,173,243, and in my U.S. Pat. No. 4,393,911. The removable liners disclosed in these patents are mounted to rotate on circular or nearly circular, beadlocks or bearings, which surround the rims of the wheels upon which the tires are mounted. Should a tire fail during use it engages the outer periphery of the associated safety liner, which in turn rotates on the underlying beadlock, thus preventing any relative rotation between the liner and the tire itself. This permits the flattened tire to continue to operate in an almost normal manner for a prolonged period of time after its failure. Moreover, during this run-flat condition the opposed side edges of the associated beadlock or bearing tend to prevent the tire beads from becoming disengaged from the tire rim.
Although known such beadlocks may perform satisfactorily under certain conditions, such as for example when they are used in combination with a safety ring or liner of the type described above, they often are unsatisfactory when employed by themselves--i.e., without a surrounding safety liner or ring. For example, there are times when it is desirable to operate a vehicle with its tires partially deflated, or inflated below normal air pressure, such as for example when it is desired to achieve greater traction in mud, sand, snow, or the like. At such times the collapsed tread sections of the tires tend to pivot or swing the tire beads out of engagement with the beadlocks. Moreover, even when used with a surrounding safety liner, known beadlocks may not operate satisfactorily to prevent dislodgment of the beads of a flat tire from the associated tire rim.
The U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,379,915; 4,159,730 and 4,281,701 show a variety of beadlock designs which have sought to obviate these problems, but the solutions suggested in these patents are impractical and/or suitable for only limited uses.
Still another problem which is unique to generally C-shaped beadlocks of the type disclosed in applicant's above-noted patent, is that when the beadlocks are used without the surrounding safety liners, opposed ends of a beadlock tend to separate slightly at high speeds, thereby possibly allowing undesirable rotation of the beadlock relative to the associated rim.
It is an object of this invention, therefore, to provide an improved beadlock, which includes means for securely engaging and preventing the opposed beads of a tubeless tire from becoming dislodged from the associated tire rim, when the tire is employed in a partially inflated condition.
A further object of this invention is to provide an improved one-piece, generally C-shaped beadlock, which is disposed to be removably secured on a tire rim by one or more removable retaining clips which prevent undesirable separation of the confronting ends of the beadlock during use.
Other objects of the invention will be apparent hereinafter from the specification and from the recital of the appended claims, particularly when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.